Why foreclosure is no good for anyone.

By Jack, on February 22nd, 2008

There were 2.2 million foreclosure filings in 2007, up 75% from 2006. And a shocking number of these homes will end up vacant, trashed, rotted, and stripped of their copper and heating units. Some say that there are more vacant homes for sale than there have been since the depression.

Lenders are paying thousands of dollars to companies that try to manage these properties, clean them up and make them ready for sale. But they aren’t there all the time, and vandals, burglars and animals have plenty of time to do what they want.

Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense for the lenders to offer to rent the property to the people who owned it before the foreclosure? Look at it this way: Someone is willing to pay the lender to stay in the property and keep it clean and complete.

You can even give then the right to buy the property back at some point when their situation has improved or the real value has been established in the market. It could be a win-win situation instead of a tear-down.